Ex-Trump associate to testify before House Intel Committee on Russia probe

Date of publication: 28 06 2017, 11:24

President Donald Trump’s former associate Roger Stone will provide testimony before the US House Intelligence Committee in a closed session on July 24 with respect to an investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged ties with Russia, lawyer Robert Buschel said in a statement.

“Roger Stone has been maligned by innuendo and misinformation regarding all of the events surrounding this investigation, ” Buschel wrote in the statement on Tuesday. “Roger looks forward to using his time in front of the committee to set the record straight.”

Stone is facing allegations he had prior knowledge of the WikiLeaks dump of private emails stolen from former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta.

Stone had previously requested a hearing in an open session to respond to Podesta, who appeared before the panel earlier on Tuesday. Buschel noted his client would like to clarify facts of his involvement that have been misrepresented to the members of the Committee.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Podesta were among several Democratic Party groups and individuals targeted in a hacking campaign that US intelligence and political leaders have blamed on Russia.

Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of attempts to influence the elections in the United States. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov has called them “absolutely unsubstantiated.”